Politiken Cup 2003,Copenhagen ,Denmark

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Politiken Cup 2003 Chess Tournament,
Copenhagen ,Denmark
14th to 25th July, 2003

Sasikiran wins Politiken Cup

GM Sasikiran Grandmaster Krishnan Sasikiran added another feather to his cap by winning the Politiken Cup international open chess tournament at Copenhagen, Denmark, with a record score of 9 points out of a possible 11. Sasikiran's score is the best ever in the 25-year history of this event.

The Indian GM ended his very successful Danish stint yesterday with a draw against highly-regarded Grandmaster Artur Yusopov of Germany, who did not succeed in breaking the defences of the Indian in the final round game.

Just a fortnight earlier, the Chennai-based player had finished as joint winner in the North Sea Cup tournament at Esbjerg.

Sasikiran is expected to gain 10 international points and will be in the 2670 bracket in the next FIDE list. The win also made Sasikiran richer by 15000 Danish kroner (appr. Rs one lakh).

As many as 17 Grandmasters participated in the strong 258-players contest that started on July 14.

Sasikiran, who started as the third seed behind GM Alexander Belyavsky of Slovenia and Konstantin Sakaev of Russia, registered two important victories in round 8 and 9, over local stalwart GM Peter Heine Nielsen and Sakaev that brought him to sole lead. In the final two rounds, Sasikiran had worthwhile draws against Belyavski and Yusopov.

The other Indian Grandmaster in the fray, Koneru Humpy, lost the last round game against Carlsen Magnus of Norway to finish on 7 points, which was enough to fetch her the best woman player prize.

Final Round 11 Standings:
1. Sasikiran, Krishnan g IND 2654 9.0;
2. Beliavsky, Alexander G g SLO 2668 8.5;
3. McShane, Luke J g ENG 2619 8.5;
4. Krasenkow, Michal g POL 2585 8.5;
5. Jussupow, Artur g GER 2583 8.5;
6. Nyback, Tomi m FIN 2483 8.5;
7. Sakaev, Konstantin g RUS 2655 8.0;
8. Speelman, Jonathan S g ENG 2589 8.0;
9. De Firmian, Nick E g USA 2553 8.0;
10. Schandorff, Lars g DEN 2525 8.0;
11. Rasmussen, Karsten m DEN 2437 8.0;
12. Skytte, Rasmus m DEN 2404 8.0;
13. Michelakis, George m RSA 2405 8.0;
14. Nilssen, John Arni f FAI 2382 8.0;
15. Carlsen, Magnus f NOR 2385 8.0;
16. Christensen,Tobias m DEN 2371 8.0

Official site : http://www.politikencup.dk/